Lifting-jack.



R. 0. HOPKINSON & R. L. EDGGOMBE.

LIFTING JACK;

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 14, 190B.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

Inventors Zi -$53? Witnesses.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD ORION HOPKINSON AND ROBERT LAVERS EDGCOMBE, OF WATERVILLE, QUEBEC, CANADA.

LIFTING-JACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 14, 1908.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

Serial No. 432,923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD ORION Hor- KINSON and ROBERT LAvERs EDGCOMBE, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residents of the town of Waterville, in the Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lifting-Jacks, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in lifting jacks, as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form part of the same.

The invention consists essentially in the arran ement of the operating gears in a horizontaT plane and the actuation of said gears by a lever socket and ratchet, also moving in a horizontal plane.

The objects of the invention are to devise a very substantial form of jack for heavy work, and to secure simplicity and durability in the construction of such machines.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine partially in section showing a cap of the pinion case removed. Fig. 2 is a perspective detail of a portion of the upper end of the jack, showing the pinion case closed. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the lever socket and ratchet. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of the lever socket.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the standard supported on the base 2.

3 is the nut rigidly held to the standard 1.

4 is the jack screw turning in the nut 3 and having the upper plain end 5. 6 is a spur gear wheel mounted on the upper plain end 5 of said jack screw immediately above the screw portion thereof and keyed at 7 to said jack screw.

8 is the shell having the enlarged upper end 9 and the opening 10 from the lateral projecting part 1 1 in said upper end, the said 0 ening being surrounded by the surface finis ed faces 12, through which the screw or bolt holes 13 extend and in which one half of the vertical bearings 14 are arran ed. 15 is a thread formed on the inner wal of the enlarged end 9 from the top extremity of said shell. 1 6 is a cap having the downwardly extending flange 17 correspondingly threaded on the periphery thereof to the thread 15 and closing in the top of said shell. 18 is a cap having surface finished faces abutting the aforesaid faces 12 and screw or bolt holes 19 therethrough registering with the bolt holes 13 and the recess 20 formed from the inner side and completing, with the said projecting part 11, a pinion case and the bearings 14, the cap screws or bolts 21 securing said cap 18 to the said faces 12. 22 is a shaft j ournaled in the vertical bearings 14 and extending below the said pinion case. 23 is a spur pinion fixedly mounted on the shaft 22 and inclosed by said cap 18 and projection 11, extending outwardly through said opening 10 into the recess 20 in the said cap 18 and coacting with the gear wheel 6. 24 is a ratchet wheel fixedly mounted on the lower and extending end of the shaft 22 and turning said shaft in operation and suitably inclosed at the top and bottom as explained hereinafter, the said wheel being clear of said shell in rotation. 25 is a lever socket piece having the parallelly arranged lugs 26 from its inner end form ing the j aw 27 in which said ratchet wheel turns, said lugs having the holes 28 therethrough in alinement, through which the lower end of the shaft 22 extends. The outer end of the lever socket piece 25 is formed with the handle socket 29, preferably rectangular, and the pawl recess 30 leading therethrough longitudinally.

31 is a pawl spring-held in the recess 30 to its engagement with the ratchet wheel 24 by the spring 32.

It will be thus seen that any movement of the lever socket piece in a horizontal plane will affect the position of the ratchet wheel, that is in one direction, as in such devices the pawl is of course beveled at the end so as to slide from tooth to tooth when the handle of the machine is moved one way, whereas in the other direction, the pawl grips the ratchet wheel and consequently turns the shaft 22, this turns the pinion 23 and as the said pinion coacts with the gear wheel 6, said gear wheel is rotated and consequently the jack screw. The jack screw supporting as it does the shell through the central engagement with the cap 16 lifts the shell at every movement of the ratchet wheel during the lifting operations. The handle operating the lever socket piece is always moving in a horizontal plane as also the pinion gear and ratchet wheel, in fact it is a steady and positive drive in the simplest possible manner, the number the gear wheel 6 having central orifices therethrough through which the plain end of the jack screw extends. 35 are ball bearings arranged between said plates 33 and 34 in suitable races to facilitate the operation of the machine.

36 is a cotter pin through the lower end of the shaft 22 beneath the lever socket.

The precise arrangement of the parts, as described, will not be adhered to strictly in Z. the various sizes of jacks constructed, as in the smaller sizes, less gear space is required, thereby allowing the shell to be made in one piece, doing away entirely with the cap closing in said shell.

Other minor modifications may be made according to the existing circumstances.

The particular arrangement of the pawl 31 is not described herein, but it must be understood that the said pawl is reversible in order s that it may be used in either raising or lowering the jack.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a lifting jack having a standard, a jack screw operating in a nut suitably supported in said standard and a shell lifted by said jack screw, a gear and pinion coacting and operating in a horizontal plane, a ratchet wheel and lever socket moving in a horizontal plane-and actuating said pinion.

2. In a lifting jack, the combination with the standard supporting a suitable nut and a main jack screw operating in said nut havin an upper plain end, of a spur gear whee mounted on said upper end, a shell carried by said jack screw having an opening through the side thereof and vertical bearings arranged at said opening, a vertical shaft j ournaled in said bearing, a pinion fixedly mounted on said shaft and coacting with the aforesaid gear wheel, a ratchet wheel fixedly mounted on said shaft, and a lever socket piece loosely mounted on said shaft and in its movements operating said ratchet wheel.

3. In a lifting jack, the combination with the standard supporting a suitable nut and a main j ack screw turning in said nut, of a shell enlarged and open at the upper end and having an opening through the side wall thereof and a projecting portion'around said opening forming a portion of the pinion case and vertical bearings, a cap forming the other portion of said pinion case and secured over said opening in the side wall, a cap having a downwardly extending flange threaded and closing in the top of said shell, a shaft journaled in said vertical bearings, a pinion fixedly mounted on said shaft, a gear wheel fixedly mounted on said jack screw and coacting with said pinion, a ratchet wheel fixedly mounted on said vertical shaft below said pinion case, a lever socket piece having parallel inward extensions forming a jaw for said ratchet wheel and holes through said extensions through which said vertical shaft extends, a handle socket and a pawl recess leading therethrough longitudinally, and a spring-held pawl in said recess engaging said ratchet wheel.

Signed at Sherbrooke, Canada, this fourth day of May, 1908.

RICHARD ORION HOPKINSON. ROBERT LAYERS EDGCOMBE. WVitnesses:

PAUL LARZ, ALEXINA JoNoAs. 

